Taxonomy and Etymology
Taxonomists S.A. Forbes and R. E. Richardson classified the pallid sturgeon in 1905, grouping it in the Scaphirhynchus genus and the Acipenseridae family, which includes all sturgeon worldwide. The pallid sturgeon's closest relatives are the shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhyncus platorhynchus), which is still relatively common, and the critically endangered Alabama sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus suttkusi), which may soon become extinct. These three species belong to the Scaphirhynchinae subfamily, which has only one other genus, Pseudoscaphirhynchus, represented by three species found in west-central Asia.
The word pallid means "deficient in color", and compared to other species of sturgeon, the pallid is noticeably paler. The scientific name for the fish is derived from Scaphirhynchus, a Greek word meaning "spade snout" and albus which is Latin for "white".
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